Aug 6, 2010

storm damage

last sunday was the first day back to work after 4 months of medical leave. oh boy, new offices, same old routines...i'm going spare you of my thoughts of architecs and their ability to make user-friendly spaces.

on wednesday evening i was sitting in my livingroom and watching out as a storm started to develop. i'll admit i was hoping for a proper thunderstorm, with lightning and rain (actually, i think the weather person kinda promised a thundrstorm). it would have been fun to sit on my glassed balcony, sip something and enjoy nature's show...well, be careful what you wish for...

...meanwhile back at the shack the storm really picked up, hit the biggest apple tree and did some major damage

such a shame. this was the biggest tree and if there were apples in any of the trees, this was it

huge trunk, there is approx one fifth of our apple crop in there

such healthy looking apples, all going to rot

however, there are plenty in the other two trees

hmm, apple sauce or pie?

the apple tree that lost the trunk is very old, this tiny rowan has found a home on it (might have to get rid of it, though)

moss has grown on some of the branches

one of the apple trees (the one i was betting was not going to survive the bruning) is doing amazingly well, lots of new shoots

need to be more vigilant in the autumn and snip some these new shoots off

the mezereon suffered as well. it really is a shame, poor mezereon has been fighting to stay alive after the surrounding trees were cut, it prefers shade place to a sunny one. we'll see if it'll keep fighting

since we are dwelling in garden issues...my arch-enemy, the rose is back. i think this was when my wrist took a serious turn for the worst, obviously, certain someone needs to address this rose-problem, soon

the storm had thrown this hazelnut (common hazel, corylus avellana) to the deck

i had recently seen the british cooking show what to eat now with valentin warner. i think he did crawfish with hazelnuts. warner picked the hazelnuts from a tree in the show and as i had not, during all these years at the shack, ever tasted the hazelnuts, decided to do so today. cracked one open with my teeth (don't tell my dentist!), it tasted quite bland, maybe i need to taste one later in the autumn (unless the squirrels hide them all...)

after all that excitement i sat (well, lay) down on the deck and started browsing these. i only dot thru the orange binder (recipe-cut-outs from martha stewart living magazine) and michel roux's pastry (there is some serious baking to be done once the weather cools a bit). looking thru all those recipes got me hungry...in the binder there was a martha recipe for iceberg vedges with buttermilk dressing that caught my eye, but i'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

certain someone's band

messing around

i find following a recipe very hard, as i tend to simplify everything, even my cooking. i'm dead set on being able to bake really great bread one day. also, it takes surprisingly lot of effort not to worry about life and the turns it takes. ps. does anyone know how to fix my spell-check?